Author: dannyglisten

I have been taking a three year break from playing Danny Glisten, but this Saturday I will be headlining the 10th reinstallment of “Be Natural” at Munch’s in Umegaoka, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo. Now I have to go practice!

“I met Andy Dale Petty in Huntsville, Alabama, he had a magazine in his pocket with all the state train routes in it and was telling me about how he loved to hop trains like the hobos back in the day. He taught me how to run next to a train and hop it, always make sure you can see the spokes in the wheel turning, if you cant than the train is too fast and you might lose a limb or two or your head. He fell asleep on a cold wooden porch that evening and then woke everyone up with his lovely geetar playing in the morning. Alabama is known as the place where the first confederate flag was designed and raised, incidentally it was also the place where the first rocket was made to take humans to the moon. Thankfully both slavery and moon travel were abandoned and replaced by white castle, waffle houses and welfare. People like Andy Dale make America the beautiful nightmare that it is. His guitar playing and hobosexuality preserve the fruits of the nation in a jar rather than a petri dish. He may not be able to turn water into wine but he can sure make a rainy afternoon feel like pickles and orange crush. The world would be a cold place without Andy Dale and his geetar, so if you see him by the train tracks, buy him a can of beans and throw a hotdog in it…. he deserves it.” – KING KHAN.

“SUSANNA BERIVAN has got the blues. But really. And if we now speak in categories such as deep and real we are absolutely serious about it and venture far out into post-meta territory. Susanna Berivan is from Berlin but she lives in Leipzig. On stage she stands alone, in black, with a weathered acoustic guitar, frowning her Frida-Kahlo-eyebrows, singing, hurting and trumpeting into the long reverb. Lamenting, bewitching, bedazzling. Melancholic is for softies, this is the real deal. Of course her sound is full of references. Blues, as stated before, Americana, alternative country, folk and soul. 50s and 60s, Camp and Tarantino. Maybe in a previous life Susanna Berivan went on a road trip through the southern states of America, in her ’64 Thunderbird, working in a remote diner, reading dime novels, watching the bird migrate to Mexico. We don’t know that. But the retrospective, the stylistic and the contextual aspects, which often render this type of music interesting today, surrender to her performance, her charisma and most importantly: her voice. Susanna Berivan’s blues is really just blue. And it will get you (…).” – TORSTRASSEN FESTIVAL 2014

“At her rootsy best, Susanna Berivan combines un-flashy delta style guitar with a more urban style of singing reminiscent of Ma Rainey or Mamie Smith. She also does a good line in 60s sounding pop-rock, and has moments of folkiness, her voice tying it all together with a fragility that invites the audience into an intimate and melancholy sound world.” – LIVE REVIEW

Not one more privileged white heterosexual cis-male with a guitar! Yeah, it’s true, basically that’s what I am. And it’s pretty nice how politics and most people around me tread me just because of that. I am not ashamed of what I am, though. However, I wish I would live in a world where everybodyis treated this way, with respect. Because, you know what (you probably do)? That’s not the case!!!

Btw, this blog was set up with the help of a less privileged white queer cis-female with a computer. Without you I am sh*t!